What to know about the Kamala Harris town hall on CNN

With 13 days until the election, Kamala Harris will answer voter questions during a live town hall on Wednesday evening.

CNN will host the one-hour-and-15 minute event from Pennsylvania, a battleground state both the Harris and Trump campaigns need to win to secure the White House.

The network previously extended an invitation to Harris and Trump for an October debate, which Trump declined and Harris accepted.

Here’s what to know at a glance.

When and where is the Harris town hall?

The town hall will be held in Delaware county, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, 23 October. It will air in primetime, beginning at 9pm ET.

Who is moderating and who will be in the audience?

Anderson Cooper will serve as host and moderator for the town hall. The CNN anchor and host of Anderson Cooper 360 is no novice when it comes to live presidential events, having moderated the network’s June Biden-Trump debate.

CNN says the audience will comprise persuadable and undecided voters from the swing state Pennsylvania.

How to watch the town hall

The town hall will air live on CNN, and will stream on CNN.com, CNN Max and on CNN apps for paying subscribers of each platform.

The Guardian has reporters following the town hall and will be covering the debate in a live blog and through live analysis and news.

Why a town hall and not a second Harris-Trump debate?

After the September debate, Harris challenged Trump to a second matchup, an offer Trump declined, saying it was “too late”.

“It’s too late to do another, I’d love to in many ways but it’s too late, the voting is cast, the voters are out there, immediately – is everybody voting, please? Get out and vote,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina in late September.

Harris accepted CNN’s invitation to a second debate in late September, and later – when the deadline to accept the debate passed – agreed to the town hall. Her campaign released a statement that said in part: “Trump may want to hide from the voters, but Vice President Harris welcomes the opportunity to share her vision for a New Way Forward for the country.”

CNN said it also offered Trump to participate in a separate town hall, also on 23 October. The Trump campaign has so far not accepted the invitation.

When is the presidential election?

Voters head to the polls on 5 November. Early voting is under way in some states, with Americans heading to the polls in droves in some states including Georgia.